New Recipes

Fried Eggs with Preserved Turnip

It’s hard to believe but this time of year, it does get rather cold even here in sunny Southern California. When it’s chilly, I love foods that keep me warm—hot pots, soups, or clay potdishes. I need the extra warmth to get me through the winter blues…I am a tropical island type of girl.

The recent guest post of Teochew Lo Ack inspired me—Teochew porridge and its scrumptious side dishes might well be the best remedy for me.

Porridge (粥/稀饭) is a popular Chinese mainstay. Known also as congee or “jook” (Cantonese pronunciation), porridge is consumed all over China, Southeast Asia, and wherever Chinese are. My late parents were particularly partial to porridge and I remember vividly my childhood days when my father would take my mother and I to Teochew porridge restaurants in Georgetown, Penang. There was one that we would always go back to—an unassuming late night porridge joint that served only porridge and well over 20 side dishes to choose from. My father would slurp bowl after bowl of plain rice porridge with dishes such as fried eggs with preserved turnip (菜圃蛋), soy sauce eggs (滷蛋), Teochew stewed fish (our favorite!), braised bean curd, preserved vegetable with pork belly (梅菜), salted duck eggs (咸鸭蛋), and the sharp smelling fermented bean curd (腐乳)—humble and modest dishes that pair so flawlessly well with porridge.

With this post, I am starting a Teochew porridge series and mark the start with the popular and delicious fried eggs with preserved turnip (菜圃蛋), a wonderful recipe that requires only two ingredients. If you love Teochew porridge, please leave a comment and let me know your favorite side dishes.

I love your pictures – they’re exquisite. Porridge really does bring back memories for me too. My parents used to make a bit of minced pork on the side, with some fried egg chopped into small slivers, and some green onion for taste. Lovely!

Hi Bee,
COOL pics with your new camera! This Fried Eggs with Preserved Turnip is one of my favourite traditional dishes. The preserved turnip goes really well with Teochew porridge. We often have it in summers. Our other favourite side dishes with Teochew porridge are fried peanuts and spicy beef shine w/ tofu.
Very refreshing and appetizing !

The photos look amazing! Can’t wait to see more food shots with your new camera.

When I saw this post I couldn’t believe you posted this recipe up because that’s exactly what my friend cooked for me last weekend. He’s Teochew and suggested I try putting preserved radish in fried egg and serving it with jook. I never heard of this before and was skeptical at first, but once I tried it I was hook. I have so many favorite side dishes to put in jook so I can’t choose just one, but lately fermented bean curd has been my favorite.

Rice porridge must be a staple of Asian countries. I grew up with Okayu (Japanese). I love eating it with seaweed paste or pickled vegetables (especially spicy hot kimchee). Definitely comfort food and good for our Midwestern winters. :D

Thanks a lot for all the delicious recipes on your site. Truly appreciate the content quality and clear instructions. I am originally from Taiping. My aunt, now 90+ years old, is a Baba or Nyonya. Love her cooking. My wife is Teochew. Her mom’s “Bak Chang” has been the best I have ever eaten. Sad to say none of her children has her recipe. Hope you may be able to provide a Teochew “bak chang” recipe akin to what my mother-in-law used to make. I’ve been living in the Sacramento area since ’79. We can get quite a array of Oriental goods around here.

Again, thanks for your “chook” or “moi” (in Hokkian) recipe. Used to eat it with “chu chiong fun” at a roadside stall in Taiping with my dad. Visited my brother in Penang a two years back. All we did was chomped down all the great food we missed. Makes me want to retire back in Malaysia.

We had teochew porridge at home for Sunday lunches. My fav side dish is one you won’t find in the stalls – a mix of taucheo, chopped garlic, thinly-sliced shallots, cili padi and a squeeze of kalamansi lime. I also love fermented bean curd.

Thank you for the familiar photo…it brings back fond memories of having Teochew porridge at home with my family in Singapore. Miss the old Teochew Porridge haunts in Hougang, Singapore. One hawker store in Hong Lim Park, Chinatown – Singapore, is famous for their Teochew Porridge. The only time I use egg with ‘chai poe’ is when I’m frying chinese carrot cake. My other version is mince (ground) pork, chai poe and eggs – omelette…with diced garlic and a pinch of white pepper. It was my mum’s recipe. Hope that all of you will give it a try. It is delicious. Being in USA for my 3rd year is kind of tough…but…I get to cook my own Teochew Porridge – typical Hougang Teochew Perankan style with ah-char.

You have amazing recipes that remind me so much of what I grew up eating. I am teochew and we used to eat porridge with side dishes almost everyday when we were growing up, breakfast lunch or dinner. It’s perfect in cold weather. Works great with hangovers too =)

Another ingredient we fry with eggs is pickled mustard greens (chopped). The sweet and sour of the pickled mustard goes really well with the eggs. I also stir fry pork with the preserved turnip, oyster sauce, salt and a pinch of sugar. Brings out the sweetness of the turnips. My mom used to grill squid, shred them and dip them in a sauce of soy sauce, chili-infused vinegar and sugar. Sometimes we will boil pork, slice thinly and serve it in the same sauce. Another favorite is chicken stir fried with julienned ginger, that I cook until crispy. And when I’m feeling lazy, I just eat porridge with Maggi sauce and dried shredded pork that I always have in my pantry. Salty black chinese olives are really good too. After Chinese New Year or a big family holiday dinner, we throw all the leftover vegetables from stir-frys (gai-lan, napa, daikon, mushrooms) along with roast pork, abalone, pork and shrimp to make a stew we call “jap chai” and it is delicious with porridge. It translates to “garbage pot” in teochew bc you throw all your leftovers into one pot to make a dish, instead of being left with a bunch of random dishes or throwing it away.

I can’t wait to see your post on this series and try your recipes. Lol now I know what I’m having for dinner!

Thanks, this is certainly where I’m going to find recipes for those wonderful traditional Asian (Singapore & Malaysian)dishes. I see there are lots of uses with Preserved Turnip. Are these sweet or salty Preserved Turnips?

I have the preserved radish in my freezer. I have to make this dish, the only thing I used them for was pad Thai. I’d love to try out the salty, funky (I mean this in a positive sense) taste with eggs.